Despite concerns over the impact of austerity upon European ambition, it was a broadly positive performance from the EU. The French, led by former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, proved hugely effective facilitators. Inviting world leaders to attend the start of the conference, for the first time, was an astute manoeuvre. This leadership came despite the austerity measures currently faced by France, with President Hollande identifying the conference as an opportunity to boost his ailing poll ratings. France perhaps also benefitted from increased international goodwill, following the recent horrifying attacks in Paris. More broadly, the EU’s leadership in co-creating a ‘High Ambition Coalition’ – initially comprising the EU and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states before expanding still further – established a small bridge between developed and developing states. This example demonstrates the importance of the EU’s capacity for soft, diplomatic power, which is likely to become more important as the EU’s share of global emissions continues to drop. Finally, the efforts of the EU to push for a 1.5°C, rather than 2°C, maximum temperature increase were an unexpected positive at the conference.

The EU performed reasonably effectively in Paris by pushing for higher targets and facilitating dialogue between key states. Yet, the bloc also failed to escape the context of its domestic financial difficulties at times, ensuring that it did not reclaim its past identity as a global climate pioneer. The EU has shown itself to be an effective facilitator on home turf, but it will need to maintain its strong performance at next year’s COP-22 in Morocco, where there will be renewed confidence in the UN’s climate model. If the EU is to be seen as a climate leader once more, it will need to ensure that the new targets it sets every five years, as required by the Paris Agreement, are ambitious enough to ratchet up ambition in other states, too.

Paul Tobin

Charlotte Burns

Charlotte Burns is Principal Investigator on 'The Impact of Austerity on European Environmental Policy' project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. She is also a Lecturer at the University of York and specialises in EU environmental policy and EU decision- and policy-making processes.

Environmental Europe?

We are three early career researchers studying European Union environmental politics. We hope that you will enjoy this blog, where we will post regularly on ongoing environmental and climate policy developments in the EU. For regular blog updates, follow @EnvEurope on Twitter. Our contact details: Viviane Gravey (@VGravey), Jonas Schoenefeld (@JSchoenefeld), and Brendan Moore (@brmo07).